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the game that has been an eternal feature in my gaming time since autumn 2014 (bloody hell, has it really been that long?)
Europa Universalis 4.
i try to mix it up with something new now and then, but it seems i always go back to it.

If not, you missed the best comeback EVER yesterday. Basically the equivalent of this year's Super Bowl comeback, except this wasn't in the final.

Let me give you some context: the Champions League is a tournament between the best clubs in all of Europe. Despite the name, it's not limited to each country's champions, but there are varying numbers of clubs competing per country.

Anyway, yesterday was the round of 16, so clubs were competing for a spot in the quarter-finals. The way the games work in this stage is you play one game at home and one away. At the end of game 2, goals from both games are tallied up and we have a winner. In the case of a tie (e.g. 3-3 after 2 games), the winner is the one who has scored the most away goals, based on the assumption that scoring at home is easier. So if A host B and A wins 3-1; then in game 2, B host A and B wins 2-0; B wins because of that one away goal. You can imagine that away goals are often crucial in these games.

So 3 weeks ago, game 1 was played between Paris Saint-Germain (home) and FC Barcelona (away). Both very good teams, so most people expected a close game.

It wasn't. Barcelona had a terrible off-day and ended up losing 4-0. That's a very heavy score, and they didn't manage to sneak in an away goal. That meant they had to win 5-0 or higher in the return match in order to move on to the quarter-finals. Barcelona's coach wasn't worried in a pre-game interview yesterday: "If they can score 4, we can score 6."

Barcelona started off strong in their home match, scoring 1-0 in the third minute. Right away people are starting to look hopeful. If they can keep this up, we'll see 5 goals.

In the 11th minute, Paris SG mount an attack which ends in the ball hitting the arm of a Barcelona defender. If you ask me, that should have been a penalty kick, which would mean PSG level the game to 1-1 and get an away goal that would make Barcelona's chances of winning the game even smaller.

After 30 minutes, Barcelona have 64% possession, which is A LOT. They're dominating PSG like PSG dominated Barcelona 3 weeks ago. Still only 1-0 though.

In the 40th minute (5 minutes before half-time), Barcelona scores a second goal. An own goal, an ugly goal, but a goal nonetheless.

Half-time. 2-0. They might be able to pull this off. They've scored 3 goals in 45 minutes before. They just have to make sure to not. let. PSG. score. That would mess up their plans big time.

62nd minute. A long ball arrives at PSG's striker Cavani and he volleys it in, quite beautifully. That's 3-1. In the video, pay attention to the PSG player shushing the crowd after the goal. That's Ángel Di Maria, who used to play for Real Madrid, Barcelona's biggest rival.

That's a slap in the face for Barcelona. They have about half an hour left to score three goals.

Barcelona keep pressing, but not much happens until 20 minutes later. Di Maria is approaching the goal with only Barcelona's keeper to beat, but a defender catches him and keeps him from scoring. Should have been a penalty kick, to be honest. Barcelona gets away with it.

7 minutes later, still 3-1. Barcelona only have 3 regular minutes left, plus whatever stoppage time will be added. Not gonna happen. People are leaving the stadium early at this point.

90th minute. Barcelona is awarded a very cheap penalty and score 5-1. Now everyone's hope is back. You'd think winning your home game 5-1 would be enough, but because of that ridiculous 4-0 defeat, they need 6-1 now. The referee adds 5 minutes of extra time. It's possible.

5 minutes of intense attacking follow, with Barcelona's tall goalkeeper joining the attack momentarily to get the upper hand in heading duels.

And would you believe it. 20 seconds before the end, Roberto scores the 6-1 and decides the game.

You can't make this up. 3 goals in the last 8 minutes. If you have the time, I highly recommend you watch this 10 minute video, covering the match from before the 4-1 up until after the 6-1.

Watching the game on the couch, I had to take a minute and stare into the distance in order to comprehend what I just witnessed.

You can definitely blame the referee on some points, he had some dubious calls. I won't let it spoil my enthousiasm though. La Remontada ('the comeback') was a truly magical thing to watch.

Was on Reddit and someone posted that they killed a baby bear's mother bear or something, in AC3. They then proceeded to wonder if they could adopt the baby bear and raise it as their own. I replied. It led to this comment thread.

i just recently started listening to one called "Our fake History". he focuses on detailing historical myths and legends, and bringing out the truth in them.
like the conspiracy theory that Queen Elizabeth was a man, Shakespeare didn't write his plays or that Napoleon did or said some specific thing. that sort of stuff.

Thanks for the tip, Rob. It was nice that he spent more time on the true story of the Nizārī Ismā'īlī than on debunking the myths.

I've only been listening to podcasts for about 6 months. My problem is finding any that I enjoy. Most just scratch the surface of a subject without delivering much value. The three categories I've focused on are politics, technology and business. Podcasts are well-suited for current events. My favorite so far is Slate Political Gabfest which is about American politics. For technology and business, I get more out of books and audiobooks.

My childhood goal was to be an astronaut. I wanted to be the first man to stab somebody on the moon.

I've recently binged on a murder cold case podcast, Up and Vanished, which has become pretty popular lately. It's addicting. The Serial podcast jump started a rush into the cold case podcast world, but Up and Vanished is very well done.

The Serial podcast jump started a rush into the cold case podcast world

Good suggestion! I heard about Serial a couple years ago but that was before I started listening to podcasts.

Season 1 is really well done. It's like The Thin Blue Line meets The Night Of. Because it's hard to keep track of all the characters without visual aids, host Sarah Koenig does a good job of reintroducing minor players whenever they weave back into the story.

My childhood goal was to be an astronaut. I wanted to be the first man to stab somebody on the moon.

Holy shit, guys. The Assassin's Creed story is heating up. Here's a summary and analysis of the most recent Comic issue, done by the super awesome Sorrosyss from the AC Forums.

"Assassin hideout, London. Guernica watches over Charlotte whom remains in the Animus. He starts to talk of the world, observing how it is slowly sliding into chaos and that the end times have arrived. Remarking that only 'she' can save us, he puts a knife to Charlotte's throat. His hand is grabbed by Galina, who promptly throws him to the ground and breaks his fingers before torturing him to find whom he works for.

Meanwhile, in Geneva, Switzerland. My'Shell meets with a banker to discuss the accounts of Vetulus De Montanis Ltd. Apparently William Miles retains ownership, but has been receiving substantial cash deposits from a shipping subsidiary of Abstergo Industries. Seeking answers to this anomaly, the banker suggests she speak with Mr Berg whom is waiting just outside the office. Sure enough she is grabbed and taken at knife point by Berg to a side room. Berg demands to know why the money is going to the Assassins, to which she swears they do not even know about it. Berg concludes that she may not therefore actually be one of them after all. A drone watches the two of them, before Berg destroys it. Knocking My'Shell to the floor, he fights off assailants who suddenly appear. He manages to take down several, until he collapses from his wounds. He is slapped around by Jasdip Dhami, whom reveals himself as the high tech 'Assassin' of the fifth column. He warns Berg to stop pushing, or risk his daughter's life. The future and its vision belongs to 'she', and he throws Berg plummeting over a guard rail.

Back in London, the wounded Arend and Kiyoshi return to the hideout to find Galina torturing Guernica. Explaining why, Galina warns that it likely means that My'Shell is also lost to them. Charlotte remains in the Animus, but she relives a memory that is not her own...

Within a golden Isu city, Minerva, Juno and her father discuss the problem of humanity - the slave race that they created. Juno warns that they try to be like the Isu too much, and that they are a threat to be exterminated. Minerva argues back, saying that humanity is learning to sing and make art and that perhaps one day they can be treated as equals. Juno's father agrees, before he is stabbed through the head by a human servant. The human uprising begins, and filled with rage from her father's demise, Juno utilises the Koh-i-Noor to slaughter every human around them with a brilliant blue energy. Enraged she swears that they must deal with humanity by saving them from themselves. Following this revelation, Charlotte slowly emerges from the Animus, realising that Juno has been scanning her mind. She knows what Juno is planning, and states that they must warn the Templars.

In an undisclosed location, Violet and Jasdip argue over how Berg was treated, with Violet wishing that he had not been harmed so brutally. Jasdip argues that it is only Juno's will whom will see Eden reborn. At this moment Juno appears in an overhead monitor, stating that she has what she needed from Charlotte, and now knows that the Koh-i-Noor was last seen in Spain. Desmond's son is guided to a crowd of waiting Instruments, where Violet warns Juno that he is his father's son and may well betray them. Juno states not to worry, as he is just a cog in a machine, one that will turns mountains into idols."

I highly recommend clicking on this, you get to see an awesome panel of Juno slaughtering humans using the Koh-i-Noor, and Desmond's Son being revealed to the Instruments of the First Will.

***

Holy crap holy crap.
I haven't been this excited for the AC story in a super long time. They're setting up some *BIG* things for the next game, which has already been teased officially by Ubisoft, by the way. We're *definitely* getting a full reveal at E3. I feel... somewhat Alive.

EXCELLENT: All Call of Duties. Seriously, this thing feels like it was built explicitly for CoD, and playing CoD with keyboard and mouse even on PS4 feels GREAT. To my knowledge, Black Ops III was bundled WITH the TAC Pro in Japan, and I believe it actually was designed from the ground up to be used with the Call of Duties and Battlefields. I was laughing out loud as I said to my brother, “Shit, these guys are going down a lot faster than with a controller.” There’s something about the way the CoD games register controller inputs that makes using the TAC Pro feel the closest to PC gaming with a KB/M you can get.

Games that run at 60frames are going to naturally feel better to control with this thing than those that don’t, as well. That partially explains why the CoDs are so satisfying to play with it.

I only tested single-player / vs AI, mind you. Though I see a few people on YouTube smashing Multiplayer with the TAC Pro on CoD BlOps3, Battlefield 1 and Overwatch. An interesting peripheral. Overpriced. Kind of a novelty or “birthday gift” sort of item if you really, really miss PC gaming (I do) and want to play some FPS games, ESPECIALLY CoD on a PS4 and be way snappier with your aim (I do.) Comes with a 3200dpi gaming mouse that isn’t permanently attached to the main unit though, so hey, that’s a thing. That also means you can attach your OWN mouse to it. I might test a Razer with it at some point, I’ve been told it improves a lot.